415 Background

January 16-17, 2013

Katherine Morehouse

California Public Utilities Commission

California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Role

• Federal Communications Commission (FCC) holds responsibility on numbering issues

• Area code relief delegated to states• CPUC performs delegated responsibilties and

determines method of introducing new area code• Numbering Administration is performed by the FCC. The

FCC’s role in numbering administration is referred to as the North American Numbering Plan Administration or Administrator (NANPA).

• NANPA tracks number usage, receives numbering reports from the service providers, provides forecasts on the life of area codes and develops alternatives for new area code introduction.

History

• 415 created in 1947 as one of the first area codes in California

• 1959 - 408 and 707 area codes split off from 415.

• 1991- 510 area code split off• 1997 – 650 area code split off• 1999, 628 overlay ordered for 415, which was

suspended when CPUC implemented number conservation.

415 Utilization FactsUtilization Comparison

Available numbers includes only numbers from assigned prefixes. Prefixes and blocks not assigned are not included.

National results are shown from December 2009 because that is the most recent report available.

AssignedAssigned

Percentage

Intermediate, Reserved, Aging

and Administrative Percentage

AvailableAvailable

Percentage

415 as of 6/30/12

4241875 50.3 5.3 3737366 44.3

California as of

6/30/1288,458,148 60 8 48,612,247 33

USA as of 12/31/09

672,472,000 47.9 6.5 639,730,000 45.6

415 Assigned Numbers by Line of Business and by

Rate Center

  BelvedereCorte

MaderaIgnacio Inverness Mill Valley Nicasio Point Reyes

Point Reyes

San Rafael SausalitoSan Francisco

Central

San Francisco Juniper

San Francisco Montrose-Evergreen

Stinson-Bolinas

Wireline 36,331 37,988 59,169 23,776 53,627 16,086 70,897 34,552 237,250 56,622 1,677,872 216,364 206,417 19,622 Paging and Messaging         19   2   3,694   21,592 13,574 9  

Wireless Telephony 20,425 3,493 1,100   4,677 1,600 46,189   131,160 17,343 1,078,615 45,783 106,027  

Telephone Number Structure

• Telephone numbers are made up of area codes, prefixes and line numbers

• Line numbers are assigned to individual telephone services. • Prefixes, also called central office codes, are assigned to groups of

10,000 numbers.• Area codes are the first three digits in the telephone number. Area

codes are assigned to specific geographies within the United States.

Area code Prefix Line Number

415 555 1000

Number Limitations

• Area codes are geographically specific

• Each area code is divided into local serving areas called rate centers

• There are fourteen rate centers in the 415 area code. They are Belvedere, Corte Madera, Ignacio, Inverness, Mill Valley, Nicasio, Point Reyes, Point Reyes, San Rafael, Sausalito, San Francisco Central, San Francisco Juniper, San Francisco Montrose-Evergreen, and Stinson-Bolinas.

• Every prefix is assigned to a specific rate center and may only be used for telephone services in that rate center.

Service Provider Number Inventory

• Every service provider is entitled to numbers to assign to their end users.

• Numbers are assigned in blocks of 1000.

• There are ten blocks in each prefix or code.

Prefix Availability Drives New Area Code

• New area codes are required when the available supply of area code-prefix combinations have been assigned.

• Numerically there are distinct 1000 area code-prefix combinations, but only 800 are usable because prefixes can’t begin with a zero or one.

• Out of the 800 usable prefixes, eighteen are unassignable because they are special use prefixes (2-1-1, 4-1-1, 9-1-1 and others).

• That leaves 782 prefixes available.• Numbers assigned to customers is the greatest reason

prefixes are assigned but the number of service providers in a local area also influences prefix assignments.

Relationship between Assigned Numbers, Number of Service Providers and Number of Prefixes

Each prefix is assigned to a rate center from the available inventory. Once assigned. Numbers from that prefix are not available for assignment to end users in another rate center.

Mill Valley17

Available 415 prefixes as of 7/1/2012

Belvedere10

Ignacio12

Nicasio5

Sausalito15

SNFC Central

448

SNFC-Mt-Ev

52

Stinson Beach-Bolinas

6

72 unassigned

Corte Madera

11

415 rate centers and assigned prefixes

Novato

18

Point Reyes 7

San Rafael

60

SF Juniper 48

415 Assignment History

• 2007 = 4 prefixes

• 2008 = 2 prefixes

• 2009 = 3 prefixes

• 2010 = 10 prefixes

• 2011 = 21 prefixes

• 2012 = 21 prefixes

Prefixes Control Area Codes

A new area code is necessary because there are only 61 more prefixes available for assignment

A new area code will supply the people of San Francisco and Marin with 784 new prefixes for the addition of more service providers and more services.